Meticulously researched and convincingly argued, Pestana's book contains a trove of information on the Cromwellian empire, the growing professionalism of the English army and navy, and England's relations with other European powers. It is a must-read for historians of Britain and its seventeenth-century empire.--Eliga H. Gould, author of Among the Powers of the Earth In a bold and well-argued book, Pestana contends that Cromwell's Western Design was a major shift in English imperial thinking, with much greater consequences than have hitherto been realized. Jamaica's rather inglorious first five years as an English colony are thus not an irrelevant oddity in Atlantic history but signal the beginning of a new phase in British American empire. This engaging book is greatly to be welcomed.--Trevor Burnard, author of Planters, Merchants, and Slaves The English Conquest of Jamaica vividly demonstrates the huge investment of money, men and ships that went into Cromwell's plan to enlarge and rationalize the English presence in America. This field-transforming book shows that the Western Design actually set the stage for the Restoration government's aspirations to build and control the empire.--Karen Ordahl Kupperman, author of The Jamestown Project